Vancouver / Names / W / Williams / West 2nd Avenue

A family name on West 2nd Avenue, Kitsilano, Mount Pleasant, Fairview and West Point Grey

The Williamses

In the city directories 1940 · three people at three addresses

The directories print three people named Williams at three addresses in 1940, all on West 2nd Avenue, with the close spelling Willams. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 186 other streets too, all listed on the Williams name's own page.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Williamses lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    1982 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • C Edgar Williams, a cleaner at the Perth Dyeing & Cleaning Works 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs M Ridley at 1978 and C A Hausen at 1988. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2455 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • F E Williams, a sexton at the St Mark's Anglican Church 1940

    Next door in 1940: J B Scott at 2445 and St Mark's Ang Ch at 2485. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    2505 West 2nd Avenue

    Kitsilano, 1940

    • Anna B Williams, a widow 1940

    Next door in 1940: A E Bullock at 2525. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a cleaner and a sexton. One is a widow, listed under her own name.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Kitsilano (3). Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists C Edgar Williams at 1982 West 2nd Avenue, a cleaner at the Perth Dyeing & Cleaning Works. F E Williams is listed at 2455 West 2nd Avenue in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Frank E Williams there as the householder, a sexton at the St Mark's Anglican Church. The 1940 name section lists Anna B Williams at 2505 West 2nd Avenue, a widow.

Today

2505 West 2nd still has its building from before 1946, dated 1912 by the City's record and on the Vancouver Heritage Register; 2455 West 2nd (1961) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 1982 West 2nd, so that building is probably gone (inferred).

Every line as printed

All 4 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Williamses

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Williams name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under W. Want a name removed? Tell us.